Kickstarter - Time of the Dying Stars: Book One (LL Fiction / Sourcebook)

Yeah, I know I mentioned this already a few weeks ago, but as I'm doing The OSR for the Lapsed Gamer series of posts, I figured I'd point a finger again at +Pete Spahn 's Time of the Dying Stars, which will be both fiction and a sourcebook for his world of Amherth (but could easily be ported elsewhere.)

Now, you don't have to support the project to benefit from it, as Pete's going to release it in a Pay What You Want format at RPGNow. No, you want to support it because your want the cool stuff that comes from supporting the projects, like a printed copy of the book, copies of Small Niche Game's other releases, new Labyrinth Lord classes by Barrel Rider Games and the chance to see a dwarf named Tenkar try to save the world, or something like that.

If you want an idea of the kind of work that Pete puts out under the Small Niche Games imprint, check out The City of Dolmvay. Also PWYW, so please, grab it and find Tenkar's Tavern within it's very pages :)

How Important are Ability Scores in the Games You Run?

White Box D&D had, at most, + / - 1 for high or low ability scores, but later supplements changed that. By the time we got to AD&D, the + / 1 range was 4, and don't even mention Exceptional Strength for fighters and their sub-classes.

I tend to favor a range of + / - 3 for the games I run these days, but taking a step back from DMing (not completely, but in large part) for the summer-plus, has gotten me to look at ability score bonuses again.

When a 13-18 is a "plus one", actual scores become much less important. Depending on how heroic of a game you want to run, that plus one might be all you need. Conversely, it keeps the characters from being hosed by a horribly low score, as really, a minus one isn't that huge of a penalty.

How much of a role does ability score bonuses play in the campaigns you run?

The OSR for the Lapsed Gamer - Free PDFs - Dark Dungeons

Nothing is as motivating as being told "your doing it wrong" when you know you are doing right. On that note, we proceed onto the 5th entry in The OSR for the Lapsed Gamer series of posts.

May we present to you Dark Dungeons.

No, not the Dark Dungeons of Jack Chick fame, which is what you will probably think of if you were gaming in the 80's and 90's, and not the soon to be released movie of the same title based on the original Dark Dungeons comic tract.

I'm talking the Dark Dungeons retroclone, a restatement of the D&D Rules Cyclopedia, not that you'll see that mentioned anywhere in the work itself or the website where you can find the download.

The D&D Rules Cyclopedia was itself a rewrite of BECMI, mostly without the I if I recall correctly. The I is mostly here.

Race as Class is one of the defining features. Your classes are Cleric, Dwarf, Elf, Fighter, Halfling, Magic-User, Mystic and Thief. I had a brain fart with the Mystic class until i realized it was the Monk class. No idea how it was named in the Rules Cyclopedia and my copy is hidden on a shelf somewhere.

For sheer size Dark Dungeons gives OSRIC a run for the money, coming in at nearly 350 pages. It includes rules for mass combat, ship to ship combat, foraging, skysailing, advice on encounter balance, questing for immortality - even if you weren't planning on using Dark Dungeons as the ruleset for your next campaign, there is a ton of interesting stuff to steal borrow for use with the OSR ruleset of your choice. It's also a complete ruleset on it's own.

Dark Dungeons (Free PDF in 3 different formats for computer viewing, printing professionally and printing at home - at 345 pages who the fuck is printing this at home? / Print SC $14.67 / Print HC $26.26 / Print Deluxe HC $89.95)

Kickstarter - Drinking Dice - Make any Game a Drinking Game

I like the Drinking Dice project. I'm not sure why, but crossing this with Drinking Quest could just lead to inebriation ;)

So, I'm in for 100 dice, with the plan of giving out a pair to everyone that attends the Tenkar's Tavern NTRPG Con gathering next June at - NTRPG Con. A free drink and some dice, what could be better than that?

The project is funded with 4 days to go, so give it a go :)

(maybe between now and then I'll think up a small game to use the dice with, instead of using them in pre-existing games)

The Partially Impartial Eye

As I do the series of posts on the OSR for the Lapsed Gamer, one thing I try to maintain is impartiality when highlighting the different rulesets.

In doing so, I've reminded myself of just how many of the OSR styled rules I've played, run or both.

Castles & Crusades - 2 short campaigns as a player via Fantasy Grounds 2

ACKS - run via Google Hangouts / VTT

DCC RPG - run and played via Google Hangouts / Roll20 (all that follows used Hangouts / Roll20)

OSRIC / AD&D 1e - run and played, using OSRIC and 1e interchangably

S&W Complete - run and played

LotFP Weird Fantasy - played

Which still means that the vast majority of the rules I'll be mentioning I HAVEN'T experienced in actual play. So many rules, so little time. If I make a statement based on a read through of a rule set that isn't accurate in actual play, call me on it and I'll correct it.

The OSR for the Lapsed Gamer - Free PDFs - Labyrinth Lord

Labyrinth Lord. The first OSR game I found, assuming one doesn't count Castles & Crusades.
Certainly the first one I found freely available in PDF in it's special "no art" version.

Yes, there are non-free versions of the PDFs with art. Content is the same, so consider the art versions as a donation to the publisher.

Labyrinth Lord is a re-presentation or re-working of the B/X rules, and it tries to replicate the look and feel of such.

The core book for Labyrinth Lord is the LL Revised Edition. If you are looking to play something compatible with your old B/X modules, this is all you need.

LL: Advanced Edition Characters allows you to play the classes from AD&D using the LL rules. In some ways it is very much like S&W Complete, but LL:AEC requires the core Labyrinth Lord rules - it is not a stand alone product.

LL: Original Edition Characters brings the OD&D White Box emulation to the Labyrinth Lord Ruleset. Again, you need the core Labyrinth Lord rules to use this supplement.

There is a certifiable shit ton of support material for Labyrinth Lord. Where as Swords & Wizardry has spawned over a dozen derivatives of it's rules, doing a search at RPGNow for "Labyrinth Lord" leads to over 350 related products (S&W comes back with less than 140.)

Labyrinth Lord is probably the best supported of the OSR rulesets, with adventures, settings, classes, monsters and more just waiting to be used. And even though we always say that OSR products are 90-95% compatible across the various rulesets, Labyrinth Lord is 100% compatible to the largest amount of source material right out of the box.

Labyrinth Lord and Swords & Wizardry are probably the "Big Two" of the OSR clones and it's impossible to go wrong with either one.

Labyrinth Lord is published by Goblinoid Games

Labyrinth Lord: Original Edition Characters (Free PDF / Art PDF  3.95/ Print SC $8.95)

Labyrinth Lord: Revised Edition (Free PDF / Art PDF / Print SC $21.95 / Print HC $31.95)

Labyrinth Lord: Advanced Edition Characters (Free PDF / Art PDF  $6.95 / Print SC $22.95 / Print HC $32.95)

BrainStorm Podcast – Think Tank #5 - Talking about Towns

Yep, thirty minutes, more or less, talking about designing towns. We give you both less and more ;)

If you want to upload it to your Podcast catching app, search for "Think Tank"

BrainStorm Podcast – Think Tank #5

It's Not Your Dad's OSR... or Maybe it Is

There have been some truly stupid discussions / disagreements in the OSR over this weekend, with much of it having to do with what constitutes the OSR, when the OSR began, when did the OSR self identify as well as a request to dig up gaming dirt on James Mal because the person in question is too lazy to do so for himself.

Drama. Lot's of it.

It did get me thinking about the definition of the OSR. Well, not the actual definition, as it's a nebulous and personal thing formed by one's own gaming experiences. I'm referring to how I define the OSR, based on my experiences, and I find myself with a ying / yang situation, as it has two faces to me. Two definitions that overlap. Or, more precisely, one definition encompasses the other.

The first definition sees the OSR in terms of older editions of D&D and it's clones and derivatives. If the rules can be traced back to AD&D 2e or an earlier definition, it's OSR.

The second definition sees the OSR as encapsulating all old school gaming and it's clones. There is no defined cut off date for this, but I'd probably use 1997 as my personal marker (unless one finds a better one) as this is the year I stepped away from gaming for 10 years or so. It's an easy mark for me to remember. This definition includes examples like Traveller, Gamma World, Star Frontiers, Tunnels & Trolls, Rolemaster, RuneQuest, Bushido, The Fantasy Trip, WFRP and dozens if not hundreds of others. The games of my youth and early adult hood. The golden and silver years of my gaming.

So, for ease of reference not just for myself, but my readers, I am going to be using the following definitions here at The Tavern.

OSR - D&D and it's clones and derivatives. If the rules can be traced back to AD&D 2e or an earlier definition, it's OSR.

OSR-E (OSR-Expanded) - an RPG released in 1997 or earlier or one of it's clones. Short and simple.

Again, these are my definitions for use here at The Tavern. Just trying to keep things organized both on the blog and in my head ;)

How Much do you Improvise as a DM?

Remember those Decks of Encounters TSR put out back in the day? I used to grab a half dozen cards at random, pick three or fourI thought I could work with, and that would be the outline of my session for later that afternoon.

I'd use one card to set things up and the others depending on the direction the party took things. Figure out the connections between the encounters on the spot and let things fall where they may. The only real drawback I had is I rarely wrote down the details afterwards, so I had a fairly bad sense of where that arty had been without them catching me up. But it was fun.

I haven't run a game like that in nearly 20 years. Not that I don't improvise these days, but I haven't gone back to the "lets figure out this adventure" type of gaming that I experimented with in my college years.

So, how much do you improvise in your average came session? Does improvisation mean you can prep less? Does it lead to more record keeping?

The OSR for the Lapsed Gamer - Send in the Clones, There Ought to be Clones

So, the more I looked the more I found OSR RPGs that use Swords & Wizardry as their core (as well as RPGs that used other clones as their core, and a whole boatload of clones and derived systems.) A whole lotta games.

Where did I find such a listing?

taxidermicowlbear

Never heard of it? Neither had I. But my, it is a site of link goodness for clones and derived games of ALL editions of D&D. Yes, even 4th.

It includes a list of 16 RPGs that are built upon the Swords & Wizardry Rules and 3 built off of the Labyrinth Lord rules

Then there are the clones built directly off of OD&D, Basic and AD&D 1e and 2e. About 60 or so. not including the games listed at the end that branch off a bit further but still have solid roots in D&D mechanics.

There is a lot to dig through, some of which is totally new to me.

I'll be cherry picking some of the free ones for the final parts of the first section of the OSR for the Lapsed Gamer series of posts, but I see no reason why one couldn't jump ahead and find a gem or two on their own.

The OSR for the Lapsed Gamer - Free PDFs - Swords & Wizardry

What can I say about Swords & Wizardry that I haven't said before?

It seeks to emulate the original edition of D&D - the White Box. Depending on the flavor you choose, it also grabs inspiration from the various OD&D supplements.

Swords & Wizardry White Box emulates what it says on the tin - the original edition of D&D without digging into the supplements. Biggest shock to most gamers? No thief class, just clerics, fighters and magic-users.

Swords & Wizardry Core was the first of the Swords & Wizardry "trilogy" to be releases. It includes the thief class and will be more familiar in feel for those that played Basic D&D.

Swords & Wizardry Complete was the last of the "core" rulebooks to be released. The PDF went free last November. This includes all of the classes AD&D players (or those that played with all of the OD&D supplements) would be familiar with, with the exception of the illusionist.

Probably one of the attractions of Swords & Wizardry is that both the Core and White Box rules are available in RTF format - which means one can design their own game using the S&W rules in an editable document or create a house ruled document to distribute to your gaming group.

Here's a short list of S&W derived games (and I know I'm missing more than a few so help a brother out and add them to the comments below):

The World of Onn, Crypts & Things, Renegade, Corruption, Woodland Warriors, Ruins & Ronin, Blood & Bullets, Ancient Mysteries & Lost Treasures, Sabres & Witchery and Pars Fortuna(these will get covered to a lesser extend further on in this series of posts)

Probably the biggest change in Swords & Wizardry from the originals it seeks to emulate is the single saving throw. I wasn't a fan of the change when I first found S&W, but after having run and played with the single save for well over a year, it's fine in practice. Another noticeable change is that Armor Class is expressed in both ascending and descending order, so you can use either depending on the preference of your group.

Swords & Wizardry is strongly supported by Frog God Games.

Swords & Wizardry White Box Rules (free PDF / RTF, print $9.99 SC, $18.99 HC Lulu)

Swords & Wizardry Core Rules (free PDF / RTF, print $14 SC, $24 HC Lulu)

Swords & Wizardry Complete (free PDF, print $34.99 Frog God Games)

No Good Deed Goes Un-Pundited

Apparently, The RPG Pundit has taken offense to my series of posts about The OSR for the Lapsed Gamer. Somehow, I'm involved in revising history and defining the OSR in lieu of his own definition of it.

I figured I'd explain my thought process for those like the Pundit that feel it's necessary to assign me motivations that aren't my own.

Lapsed gamers from the "golden age" of gaming, roughly prior to 2000, the year D&D 3e released, are most likely (not all, obviously, but those that have found The Tavern after years away from gaming aren't likely to have been VtM players) to have been players of 2e or earlier. These are the editions covered by the basic "retroclones."  Strangely enough, this is what I blog about.

The retroclones are generally rewrites of the originals that are, at the very least (and IMHO), better organized and easier to digest. Initially, I'm highlighting the retroclones of the various D&D editions that are free in PDF. Afterwards, I'll mention "other old school" RPGs that are free in PDF, like the free Tunnels & Trolls quickstart, Stars Without Number, Legends (Fantasy Trip) and similar titles.

After the free in PDF RPGs, we move on to the clones that are only available at some sort of cost, like ACKS and DCC. Then, we'll move on to the other clones and / or still in print RPGs, like Tunnels & Trolls, Traveller, Runequest, OpenQuest and others.

As for Encounter Critical and Mazes & Monsters, they would fall into the "other old school RPGs."

Why am I doing this? Because there is an interest in it and I enjoy doing it.

For those that aren't interested in this series of posts and find it offensive that I may leave out your favorite but obscure game, so be it. It's not for everyone and it is not intended to be a history lesson of the OSR. It's more like individual snapshots in time and space.

The Brainstorm Podcast #4 Released Today - And it's now on iTunes

Yep, you can now listen to the Brainstorm Podcast via iTunes.

So, what are you waiting for? Listen to +Vincent Florio , +Glen Hallstrom and myself talk about gaming shit stuff.

The OSR Gaming Forums Take it up a Notch - Now I Might ACTUALLY find a use for a Forum

Over the past weekend the OSR Gaming forums were down. Whether it was a DOS or just an internet hiccup, I don't know. I do know that it prodded +Vincent Florio to take another look at his OSR Gaming Forums set up, and from what I can tell, the revised forums turned it up to eleven (yes, obligatory Spinal tap reference included.)

So, what's new?

- a real time IM system - so I can harass those that are currently reading the forums when I log in. Huzzah!

- dice rollers - so you can run games in the forums, use it for character generation for your non-forum game, play some craps, etc.

- all posts have +1 Google plus feature - I'm sold - G+ is my social media method of preference (although I am expanding my friends on Facebook recently) - I'll need to try this feature

- RSS Features for all forums - cool for those that use such features - I don't, cause I'm generally too lazy

- The ability to use Tapatalk from any smartphone to use the forums - I'll judge this once I've used it enough to have an opinion

- An Articles section to post up adventures, hooks, characters, etc - cool, as it kinda make the forum into an online magazine, at least in part, without calling it a magazine. Vince, how about OSR Gaming Mag for the new forum site? ;)

Taking a Look at ENWorld's Hot Roleplaying Games (Hint - the OSR places fairly well)

ENworld's Hot Roleplaying Games List

I stumbled across this earlier today while bouncing around the web. Very interesting numbers. I'm not surprised to see 5e having over half the the attention of gamers / posters / bloggers online, but I am surprised to see where the OSR places. A solid 5th place, right after FATE.  The thing is, if you add in OD&D and 2e to the OSR numbers, it comes it at #3.

And folks wonder if the OSR has a voice these days (well, I assume some folks wonder.)

Over 1000 sites and counting! What's the current zeitgeist? What are the hottest games being talked about right now? This isn't a list of sales figures; it tracks what's currently being talked about using a top secret algorithm. Each game is also conveniently linked to a search for discussion about it right here on EN World, should you want to find out more. The spotlight list changes from time to time. The red and green arrows show a game's general trend over the last 90 days - is it being discussed more or less than it was in the previous 90 days?

How important are Taverns in Your Campaign?

Taverns. They are a staple of fantasy roleplaying.

"You are in the tavern when a mysterious man approaches you."

"Sitting down at a table in the local tavern, a man bursts through the door and crumbles in a lifeless heap. In his right hand he holds an envelope addressed to (some random PC)."

You know the spiel. You've payed it or run it or read it in a commercial adventure countless times.

So, do you detail the taverns that get used in your games? Do you name the tavern, it's workers, the patrons, detail the food and drink and pricing? Or is it just a backdrop to kick things off for the night?

Tell us your thoughts.

and the Free Basic Fantasy RPG Print Package Goes to...

Alright, I broke out my Gamescience percentiles and ignored any results above 57.

Rolled a 05

Which means +Peter Schweighofer , you win the Basic Fantasy RPG collection of books in print.

Peter, I'll need you to contact me at tenkarsDOTtavern at that gmail thing so I can get this sent to you via Amazon.

Thanks to all that commented. There wouldn't be a blog without the community that's has formed around it. I can't thank everyone enough.

Huzzah!

THIS is Why I Blog

I don't blog for the money, as there is little to none to be made. If anything, it costs me money.

I don't do it for fame, because really, what fame is there to be made?

No, I do it for moments like this:

Good Morning Erik (Morning at least on the USA East Coast),  

I downloaded the free BasicFantasy and Field Guide items this morning with great delight. 

OSRIC is excellent and indeed, as you recommended, the BF array closely tracks with the feel of OSG (old school gaming? I don't know my acronyms yet).   

Both systems collectively turn my old lapsed gears and it is a wonderful feeling.  A feeling of simple joy.  What an elusive condition, simple joy: an ice cream cone when you're a kid, or tossin' the ball with your Dad, or a new bike.  New houses don't do it, fast cars don't do it, beautiful women don't do it (though we can make a strong case for them), exotic vacations, power and promotion in our careers . . . it's a long list.   

Just fucking give me simple joy.   

And I was going to buy a vineyard.   

Please tell the primary parties at OSRIC and BF how they have touched a man many miles away.  A different kind of sorcery.  I don't have a gmail account or whiddle with Facebook so I can't contribute to your comment sections.  Supply those men my email address if you like.   

I owe them money.   

Thanks again for everything.  Looking forward to Pod-2 from Tavern Radio.  

Best,  

-Rick  

"Gnoll fritters for EVERYBODY!"

Alright. I'm done. Can't top this. Time to turn out the lights ;)

I think Swords & Wizardry is up next...

The OSR for the Lapsed Gamer - Free PDFs - Basic Fantasy RPG

Basic Fantasy RPG is pretty much a bridge between 3x and the older editions of D&D. It was the first OGL based game that was meant to emulate Old School play and be used as such (OSRIC was originally written to make it easier for publishers to write old school adventures).

What Is Basic Fantasy RPG? 

The Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game is a rules-light game system modeled on the classic RPG rules of the early 1980's. Though based loosely on the d20 SRD v3.5, Basic Fantasy RPG has been written largely from scratch to replicate the look, feel, and mechanics of the early RPG game systems. It is suitable for those who are fans of "old-school" game mechanics. Basic Fantasy RPG is simple enough for children in perhaps second or third grade to play, yet still has enough depth for adults as well. 

Basic Fantasy RPG is an Open Source game system, supported by dedicated fans worldwide who have contributed hundreds of pages of rules supplements, adventure modules, and other useful and enjoyable game materials...

It succeeds in this goal of replicating early D&D based RPGs very well, not just in the look, feel and mechanics but in presentation too.

Probably the most amazing thing about the Basic Fantasy RPG is the quality of the supplements and adventures, available for free in PDF and at cost in print.

How inexpensive?

Less than 11 bucks for the rules and two campaigns with multiple adventures in each. Personally, I really like BF1 Morgansfort: The Western Lands Campaign. It has a B2, Keep on the Borderlands feel while still being different

Here's what I'm going to do. One random commenter on this post will get the above three books in print sent to their home. US residents only, as this will be shipping via Amazon Prime. Don't fret, everyone can grab the above and more for free in PDF directly from the Basic Fantasy RPG website.

You need to comment by 930 PM Eastern Time, September 24th, 2014 to be considered.

Magic Shops - Do You Use Them?

There are times that I think magic shops (and their inclusion or exclusion) are one of the more controversial aspects of a campaign.

If you have one (or more) it makes magic common and no longer as special. If you have none, where do the player's sell off their excess magic (assuming they have any) or spend their gold in bulk?

I have no problem with the apothecary or scrivener adding an occasional permanent magic item to their inventory of wares, but I shudder at the idea of magic shops popping up like used car sales men:

"This here wand of fireballs was just used by the mage Bobulast to clean vermin out of his storage cellars. Hardly been used. Command word? Oh, that's an extra 50 geld."

If I did have a magic shop, I'd want it to be more like an antique shop with perhaps an anti-magic effect over the shop, preventing items from being misused against the proprietor.

"That there is a rare piece. One of a kind even. Look at the patina on that blade, shows it's age and it's heritage it does. You'd want to leave the patina. I wouldn't clean it more than a slight buffing or you'll ruin it's value. Yep, might only be a blade of minor power but it has a history well worth it's weight in gold. Er, careful with that snow globe. Iffin it drops we may find ourselves in the midst of a snow storm, magic protections or not. Remember, you break it, you bought it."

So, do you use magic shops? To what extent?